


Broken Pieces

by orphan_account



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz (Two River Cast) Actor RPF
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, High School, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Multi, Mutual Pining, Party, Pining, Rejection, Soulmates, Trans Brooke Lohst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Everyone has a Piece. Like a magnetic friendship necklace, but on steroids. You have one chance to find the love of your life, and if you try the wrong Pieces, well, your chance of finding your soulmate are over.But if you do find the right person, you enter the bond of a lifetime.Rich's Squip won't let him look for his soulmate, but he's pretty sure he knows who he wants it to be.
Relationships: Christine Canigula/Jake Dillinger, Jake Dillinger/Rich Goranski
Comments: 137
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

Rich watched Jake stare longingly at Christine Canigula with only the slightest distaste in his mouth. He didn't know why, so, obviously, he pushed it away. **Good.** his Squip whispered, lingering beside him. He rolled his eyes softly, giving a silent scoff to the holographic entity. He got a small shock in return.

**Tease him.** it commanded. Rich nodded, to himself, doing his best to keep the sarcastic comments in his mind from reaching his Squip.

"You trying to bore holes in the back of her head, dude?" Rich teased, lightly punching Jake's arm. The taller flushed.

"Uh, no. W-was it that obvious?" Jake responded with a sheepish grin.

Rich snorted, though it was actually genuine, unlike many other laughs he's had to force. "Bro, you could not be giving any more obvious heart-eyes right now."

“W-well, can you blame me? She’s amazing.” Jake gushed. The others around the table all rolled their eyes. Jake had a large tendency of getting a different crush every fortnight, talking them up for a few days then asking them out, only to have the whole relationship crash and burn a week later. Rich had been through this rodeo plenty of times, but it never really helped with the strange feeling in his gut every time he did. “Last year, I saw her in the play, a-and she was awesome! Everyone else was really bad, but when she went on stage, it was almost real! And when she died, wow, I almost thought she was gone forever.”

“Are you going to ask her out?” Brooke pipped up from across the table. She was the only one in the group who actually cared for Jake’s crushes, besides Jenna of course. Although, Jenna had much different reasons to care. 

“Yeah, and I was thinking of joining the play to do it. Y’know, get to know her in her _element_.” Jake said dreamily. 

**Pester him about joining the play. Inquire about the homosexual side of theater.**

If there was one thing Rich hated most about the Squip, it would be its very blatant homophobia. Not that Rich was gay, of course. He just didn’t find anything wrong with the idea of liking the same gender. Another shock. **Homosexuality is a ticket straight to the bottom of the social ladder. I will not tolerate any more of these thoughts.**

“Joining the play? That’s, like, hella gay, dude.” Rich asked with narrowed eyes.

“Can it really be that gay if he’s doing it to get a girl?” Jenna asked, eyes still glued to her phone. 

“Yeah, what Jenna said, dude,” Jake said, giving Rich a shrug. 

Chloe gave a nasty sigh and shifted in her seat to face Jake. “Please, you act like this is going to go anywhere. We all know that this girl is just going to get dumped because Jake's gonna get bored when she turns out to be an actual human being.”

Rich felt anger flare as Chloe insulted Jake, but his Squip kept his mouth closed. **Defending him could raise unnecessary questions.** So, instead Rich watched with discontent as an argument broke out between Chloe and Jake. 

“Well, this one could be the one!” Jake yelled at Chloe. Rich had zoned out, unaware of what insults were thrown to get to this point.

“Face it, Jake. Even if you really _did_ find your soulmate, you’d drop them in a week before going to chase the next catch. You’re never going to find your soulmate because you’d never see them, even if they had a fucking neon sign pointing right at them!” Chloe snarled. Jake’s eyes widened, and he turned away. The former crossed her arms in a huff, mumbling something to Brooke.

Rich hated seeing Jake like this, all quiet and tucked away. He wished he could bring back the dopey smile he had when he was talking about Christine, yeah, the one that shone brighter than a thousand stars. Except, maybe this time-

_Zap!_

That was a much larger shock than usual, and Rich actually jumped this time. **As I said, I will not tolerate any more of those thoughts.**

The bell for class rang, and Jake was quick to leave the table. Rich followed, careful to linger a bit behind the taller teen. "What a bitch, am I right?" Rich joked, internally cringing at his lack of an empathetic play for Jake. But, alas, this was the most his SQUIP would allow.

"I know, right! She's just pissed that I don't want to test out my Piece with her. God, I may not know who my soulmate _is_ , but I most certainly know who it's _not_." Jake sighed, running a hand through his hair. Rich always liked Jake's hair, it was fluffy and he bet it's be really soft to the touch and-

No, like his SQUIP said. No more of that.

"I have all the sympathy for you, but I gotta ask: why do you care so much about soulmates. All they do is tie you down, no freedom. Personally, I don't think you'd be very happy with that." Rich said with prompting by his Squip. "Just think, we could be the soulmate-less duo!" He joked.

Ah, yes, the almost daily reminder of his unfortunate situation. Following his Squip's orders, Rich wasn't going to take a soulmate because it would make him look cool. Really, Rich just thought it made him look like a pompous asshole. He _claimed_ he had thrown away his Piece into a river in some awful symbolism of freedom. In reality, it was just in a locked box on his dresser. It had taken a whole day's worth of pleading to keep it, and even then, the key was who-know's-where after Rich was forced to drop it down a storm drain.

Jake just shook his head. "I-I don't know how you do it, man. Just throwing your Piece away? You can never find your soulmate, that's just depressing."

"Kinda the whole point." Rich laughed, clapping Jake on the back. "As much as I'd like to stay and talk about how much of a stick in the mud you are about your Piece, I gotta get to science. Mr. Donns has been riding my ass lately." He gave Jake a little wave before booking it to the science classroom, pointedly ignoring the shouts of protest from the teachers in the hall. 

He saw Christine when he got to the classroom, a bit of a sour reminder of Jake's stupid crush. He really shouldn't have hated it this much. **That's right, you shouldn't.**

God, this was going to be a long week.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bathroom encounter

It was the end of the day, and Rich was swinging by Jake's locker to give a farewell before he went to loiter in some eclectic place around town. He did not expect to get caught up in Jake's romantic endeavors.

"You, dude, good luck with that theater chick," Rich said as he passed by Jake's locker. Jake paused and looked away from his things.

"Hey! Uh, Rich, actually, I was thinking, would you join the play with me? I'm gonna need a wingman, and you're the best one I got." Jake returned with that stupid lopsided grin of his that made Rich feel all fuzzy. 

**So you're calling on me, the lone wolf, for help scoring a girl?**

"So you're calling on me, the lone wolf, for help scoring a girl?" Rich repeated. His Squip nodded in regard.

"Well, I, uh, y' know, you're good with girls n' stuff. Know how to get 'em all into you and shit." the taller said, closing his locker and hoisting his backpack up to his shoulder. "You got skill, I gotta admit."

Rich glanced at his Squip, who seemed to be processing something. **Agree, but add on that he now owes you.**

The blonde gave a small nod before following orders. "I mean, I'm all for helping out my bro, but you're gonna owe me after this."

Jake threw back his head in a laugh, an action that slightly confused Rich as he didn't see what was funny about what he just said, but his Squip prompted him to laugh along with him. Not that he hated Jake's laugh, it was bubbly and contagious, really, just an overall mood-lifter and he could-

Rich's train of thought was cut off by a sharp shock. His Squip gave him a disapproving look. "Got a tempting offer there, Rich. I think I'll take you up on it." Jake gave Rich a thumbs-up before starting down the hallway. Giving one glance back, the taller teen cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "See you at the theater!", earning several glares from teachers still stalking the halls. Rich chuckled to himself as Jake disappeared around a corner.

"Dumbass," he whispered to himself, shifting his backpack to a single shoulder.

**He may be a 'dumbass', as you put it, but he has a knack with social interactions. Far more than you have.** his Squip unnecessarily commented. Rich felt his face fall a tad as the mood soured. His Squip always found ways to ruin things.

**I do not ruin things, Rich, you simply overreact.** The hovering form of pixels gave a small glare, and Rich decided it would just be best if he dropped the topic. **Now, start on your way to the theater. Jake will stall as long as he can before entering, and it would be ill-advised to make him enroll on his own.**

Rich rolled his eyes, not even flinching at the shock that followed. The theater was relatively easy to find, but his Squip made him stall a tad. **Knowing where the location of a commonly agreed upon 'uncool' location could damage your reputation.** The blonde nodded blankly, smiling as he turned a corner and saw Jake.

"Jakey-D! My man, what's up?" Rich called as he approached the formerly mentioned. Jake perked up, looking away from what Rich could only presume to be his phone.

"Rich! You act like you didn't just see me, what, less than ten minutes ago?" Jake laughed, waving Rich over. Rich happily obliged, his faux smile turning more real. 

"And when you left, you acted like we wouldn't see each other for years." Rich snarked. 

"Touche," Jake responded, turning to the door. "So, we gonna go in, or what?" 

Rich shrugged. "Dunno. This is kinda all you, dude."

There was a shout from down the hall, and Rich and Jake turned simultaneously to see Chloe and Brooke turning the corner. Jenna trailed behind, jogging a little to catch up. 

"Brooke, I told you we should have taken a left, not a right!" Chloe snapped, the aforementioned flinching a little at the remark.

"Sorry, I was thinking of the wrong place," Brooke replied, fiddling with the sleeves of her cardigan. 

Chloe only rolled her eyes, walking up to the pair of boys watching the scene with bused interest. "Hi, Jake." Chloe cooed, voiced laced with phony interest. "You didn't tell me you were joining the play."

Jake glanced at the theater doors, giving a sharp sigh. “Yeah, and since I _didn’t_ tell you I was joining the play, how did you find out?” he questioned.

“Jenna Rolan,” Chloe replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It probably was. The latter waved from behind Brooke, a small smile on her face after being mentioned. 

**Prompt Jake to enter the theater.**

Rich elbowed Jake in his side and jerked his head towards the door. Jake nodded in understanding. The taller teen turned away from Chloe and towards the double doors, promptly starting towards them and pushing them open. 

Rich followed the rest of the group in their noisy entrance, diverting more of his attention towards focusing on Christine and that nerdy kid who's backpack he vandalized earlier that day. **Jeremy Heere.** his Squip supplied. **You should remember his name by now.**

Mr. Reyes walked out from behind the curtains, clapping his hands together. He gave some spiel about the play being re-written and all that, something Rich had no care for. He was more focused on Jake, and how excited he seemed to be sitting next to Christine. He felt his smirk turn into more of a grin as Jake fist-pumped to something he didn't quite catch.

**Rich.** his Squip huffed. Rich internally sighed and focused more on Me. Reyes.

"It is now time for a five minute break, so I can eat a hot-pocket." Mr. Reyes announced, already on his way off of the stage. Rich whooped and kicked back his chair as he stood up. 

**Clap Jake on the back and give him a couple words of encouragement, then you must head towards the bathroom.**

Rich knew better than to question his Squip, so he simply followed orders. Jake jumped a little as Rich patted his shoulder. "Knock her dead, dude."

With that, Rich was off, completely ignoring the choked noise of protest Jake made as his shorter friend left him. 

_'Any specific thing I gotta do? Cause I think Jake thinks that I just abandoned him.'_

**Jeremy Heere is currently in the men's restroom, violating our agreement of not washing off 'Boyf' from his backpack.**

Rich bit at his lip. _'Not really an agreement.'_ he thought, correctly predicting the shock that followed.

**The label of the interplay is irrelevant. What matters at the moment is that we follow up on the promise.**

Rich pushed open the door of the bathroom, and lo-and-behold, there was Jeremy scrubbing away at his backpack.

"I thought I told you not to wash that off." Rich sneered.

"Where's my h-homework?" Jeremy mumbled, averting his gaze from Rich.

"I'm talking to you, Tall-Ass!" The shorter teen barked, slamming his fist against the wall. 

**Head to the urinal.** his Squip commanded. Rich internally panicked.

_'What?! I'm not going to, piss in front of him, am I?'_

**You are.** Rich huffed at the answer.

"W-why do you call me that? I-I'm not even that tall…" Jeremy stammered. 

"Uh, well, you could be if you weren't hunched over and scared, what, all the time?" Rich bit back. He grimaced as he unzipped his fly.

Jeremy quickly looked away, inching closer to the stalls. "Ah, the only thing more pathetic is how you're sneaking off into a stall to get away from me!" He hit the wall in front of him. "Stalls are for girls, are you a girl, Jeremy?"

Jeremy stopped in his tracks and swiveled away from the stalls. "Ah, jeez, h-how do you talk to people while you're," he waved an arm in Rich's direction while pointedly looking away. 

"Confidence." Rich sleazily replied. His Squip made him thrust his hips for added affect.

"Ok, well, y-you might want to watch the floor, man,-" Jeremy started, only to be cut off by a gasp from Rich. An incredibly painful shock, far worse than anyone he had received in a while, ripped through the former's spine. 

_'What the hell was that about?!'_ he thought angrily.

**Jeremy Heere is not nearly as bad as previously calculated. We are going to give him a Squip.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rich comes up with a plan

Rich felt physically sick for the rest of play rehearsal. He was pretty sure he would have vomited right then-and-there had his Squip not been on.

Jeremy was going to get a Squip.

_Jeremy was going to get a Squip._

**And what is so wrong about that, Rich?** Speak of the devil.

**And he will appear, I am familiar with the saying, Rich.**

_'What? But, that's not what-'_

**Hush. Jake is going to confront you about leaving him with Christine and you are going to need my help with the encounter.**

_'I told you he'd think I was blowing him off!'_ Rich angrily thought as he saw Jake's towering form walk over to him. Rich's Squip made a point of having him sit as far away from Jake as possible after he returned from the bathroom.

"Y'know, you could have, just, not come if you knew you were gonna peace out as soon as I needed your help," Jake stated, a cheery tone with a pissed undercurrent pushing the words just a tad beyond the stressing they needed.

Rich, currently laying across three different seats, leaned back a little more. God, did he feel like an ass. "Jake, my man, you don't need help!" He grinned, Squip directing his every word.

Jake sighed, sitting down next to Rich. "Yeah, but, I totally sucked ass out there, dude! I called the bow a fucking 'victory dance'! Like, what the fuck! I could have totally used you!"

Rich rolled his eyes with a playful smirk. He felt a little warm after Jake said he needed him, albeit for a not-so-ideal purpose."Yeah, and she was still drooling' after you! Chill, Jake, she's totally into you."

The taller teen grimaced at Rich's remark. "Yeah, but, like, I don't just want to woo her into bed, I want to _actually_ get to know her 'n stuff." He mumbled.

**You got me there.**

"You got me there," Rich admitted, patting Jake's shoulder as per instructed. "But, c'mon, let's stop moping about girls and shit and go get Sbarro's or something. Don't you have a new game on your Xbox or something?"

Jake glanced to the side for a second, clearly pondering the offer. "Sure, Rich," Jake responded, words far too mellow for Rich's liking.

The two packed up their things and promptly left the now-empty theater. Rich felt woozy when he caught a glimpse of a certain blue cardigan. He really hoped Jeremy didn't have enough money.

**Now, why would we hope that?** his Squip asked in a patronizing voice, shock following.

Jake was silent the whole walk to the car, quickly putting on a grin whenever he saw Rich scrutinizing his features. Something was off. Really off.

Rich dumped his things in the back seat, happy he didn't have to lug all of it while walking. He could always bug Jake into giving him a ride home if he stayed too late. 

"So, what're you thinking? Chill at the mall, go pester your neighbor to let us see her dog?" Rich called as he slid into the passenger seat. Jake drummed his fingers on the steering wheel after he sat down.

"I was more thinking we could watch a movie or some shit? Like, we could shit on Air Bud." Jake mumbled. Rich barked out a laugh.

"Whatever you want, man." Rich snickered. He knew very well that _'shitting on Air Bud'_ was how Jake watched the movie without feeling embarrassed. Really, Rich found it endearing how Jake's eyes would light up at his favorite parts, and how happy he would seem afterward. He wished he had a movie he liked that much.

The drive was relatively short, Rich feeling a little shaken by the silence. He knew Jake had his off days, but he seemed so happy earlier. 

Jake parked the car in the garage of the iconic Dillinger house. The taller teen was quick to ditch the car and hit the garage door on the way inside. Rich was quick to follow, 100% because he was excited and _not_ because Jake's garage scared him when it was dark. 

When Rich closed the garage door behind him, the mudroom was already vacant, save the furniture and couple pairs of shoes. If his guess was correct, Jake was already sifting through movie DVDs in search of Air Bud. **You are correct.**

Rich plopped down on the couch that was surely more expensive than anything he himself owned and watched Jake pop in the DVD. The latter then headed to the kitchen, presumably to get snacks. He was very wrong.

Jake shuffled back into the room, eyes downcast and something very clearly is hidden behind his back. "Oh, it's one of _those_ days," Rich said in acknowledgment. Jake nodded.

**Richard Goranski, don't you dare. There will be severe consequences, do you hear me?**

Rich ignored his Squip as Jake tossed him a beer can. He quickly popped the tab and guzzled a little down, already feeling a little sick. Jake and Rich had formed a little _business_ if you fancy calling it that. If Jake gave Rich a beer when they were alone, Rich would give a little bootleg therapy in return. It always meant Jake was feeling awful, so Rich always dreaded the taste of beer that would precurse it. 

Rich's Squip fizzled out of sight, angrily shouting in Japanese as it made its exit. "Ok," Rich drawled, patting the cushion beside him. He'd have to avoid any 's' words since he didn't have his Squip to correct his lisp. "Wha- uh, tell me the shit on your mind, big guy."

Jake bumbled over to where Rich sat, practically falling on to the settee and sagging when he did so. "I-I, just, ugh!" Jake exclaimed, roughly pushing hands through his hair. "Chloe's been trying to take the piss out of me lately cause she's mad that we haven't gotten back together. She just doesn't get that I don't want her, I want Christine!"

"Anything different about Chri- her?" Rich asked after pondering his word choice. "I mean, uh, not that I'm judging or anything! But, why do you care about her?"

Jake pulled his hands down and held his face with them. "She's, well, she's _nice_. She's sweet and kind and she actually gives a shit? Like, ugh, how do I explain this?" The taller teen groaned and flopped over horizontally, head halfway on Rich's lap. The latter blushed at the contact because Jake was super warm and his hair was kind of fluffy and Rich's shirt was riding up a tad and it was brushing at his stomach and he could not be gripping the cushions any harder to keep himself from running a hand through it.

"I like her in, well, a different way? Like, I don't just look at her and go 'damn nice tits', I, I look at her and I just, want to be with her? I want to see her smile and laugh and I want to be _why_ she smiles and laughs, and that's different from anything I've felt with Chloe." Jake exasperatedly explained. He glanced up at Rich who was failing very hard at keeping his blush under wraps. 

"Well, that kind of, uh, lo- I'm, I mean, it appea- ugh, no," Rich stuttered. Jake gave a look of concern from his almost-position on Rich's lap. "You like her, ye- yeah? Well, you like her in a different way than Chloe, beca- uh, for the rea-" Rich groaned in frustration. 

"You don't have to tiptoe around my feelings, you can stop tripping over words." Jake nonchalantly declared. Rich felt his face flushed and promptly turned away. Jake would never like his lisp, because his lisp was stupid and annoying and nobody liked it, everyone hated h-

"Rich!" Jake called, snapping his fingers in front of the aforementioned's face. "Sorry, didn't mean to, like, offend you or anything."

"I-it- uh, you're fine. I wa- I, uh, well, you like Chloe for her killer rack, but you like, uh, that theater chick be- for her per- for her, uh, _likability_. You want to date her, not fuck her." Rich explained.

"Well, yeah, I know that! I just don't know how to get Chloe off my case!" Jake sat up, much to Rich's relief (read: disappointment), and tugged at his shirt.

"You could, uh, put Chloe on a blind date with one of your football buddie- pal- friend- shit, a _dude on the football team_." Rich offered, a strained smile following his words. 

"She's dated all of them already." Jake sighed.

_'Wow'_.

Rich thought about his options for a bit. "If you're ok with it, I could talk to Chloe after cla- uh, after the final bell and give her a, uh, a fake, um, tale! Yeah, a fake tale about how she nee- uh, ha- no, um, about why she can't date you."

Jake perked up, a sight that Rich was all too pleased to see. He felt his own mood lift with the brunette's. "That's an awesome idea! See, I told you you're smart!" Jake exclaimed before snatching up the remote and turning on the TV. "Now, it's time for Air Bud!"

Rich smiled along with him, hoping his Squip would let him follow through.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The age-old trope of 'holy shit my crush is spooning me' and other adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who cant pace chapter posting for shit???
> 
> this bastard :D

The situation Rich was currently in, to be frank, was bad. After finishing Air Bud, the pair switched to surfing various streaming services for random movies to watch. The last one just cut short, the ‘Are you still watching?’ message displayed on the TV screen. That was not what was bad about the situation, no, no. What was bad about the situation was Jake Dillinger was currently laying on top of Rich, fluffy hair pressed up against the shorter’s cheek.

The thing about Jake was that he functioned like a teddy bear. Warm, huggable, soft, and something that just made sleeping a whole hell of a lot easier (at least, for Rich); and something that the Squip hated with a fiery passion. Not the boy himself, mind you, but Rich’s feelings towards him.

So, all and all, the worst thing about the situation was not how there was nothing for Rich to watch, or how the blonde’s leg was asleep, or how his heart could not be beating any faster, or how he couldn’t help but focus on every point of contact the two had and how that was making him blush uncontrollably and Jake honestly look adorable while asleep but not in a gay way because Rich wasn’t gay but he could totally just appreciate how cute Jake’s snores were and how much he wanted to card his fingers through his hair because it looked so soft without the thoughts being gay and _oh god_ Jake just shifted around and was now hugging onto Rich and Jake Dillinger was spooning him Jake Dillinger was spooning him _Jake Dillinger was spooning him Jake Dillinger was spooning him JakeDillingerwasspooninghim-_

No, the worst part about the situation was that the telltale buzzing of Rich’s Squip was growing stronger, and with his arms now pinned to his sides ~~thanks to a certain football player~~ , Rich couldn’t grab his beer to shut it up for just a tad longer. This was going to be hell.

**Push him off.** was the first thing his Squip said as it reemerged from the depths of Rich’s alcohol-addled mind.

_‘What, no lecture?’_

**Oh, there will be a lecture, I assure you. This will not go unaddressed, but currently, this situation’s, how should I put it,** **_intimacy_ ** **needs to be expelled immediately. Push him off.**

At that moment, Jake nuzzled into Rich’s neck and the former let out a gasp. Apparently, the noise was enough to rouse the taller boy. “Huh?” he blurted, lifting his head up from where it rested on Rich’s chest. One side of his face was a tad red from contact, and his hair was the most adorable bed head Rich had ever seen.

Yeah, he got a shock for that.

It took Jake a few seconds to process what was going on, but when he did, hoo boy was it a show. He immediately flushed the darkest shade of crimson Rich had ever seen, untangled his arms from Rich and launched himself off of the couch. “No homo!” he shouted from the floor.

**You were just fucking spooning me, dude. I don’t think a single ‘no homo’ can erase all the gay that that is.**

“You were just fucking spooning me, dude. I don’t think a single ‘no homo’ can erase all the gay that that is.” Rich reluctantly repeated.

“Sorry,” Jake mumbled, standing up.

“Yeah,” Rich scoffed. He felt his heart plummet when Jake winced. 

“Do you want me to drive you home or do you think it’s too late for you to go back?” Jake asked, pointedly sitting as far away on the couch as possible. That stung.

**Your father brought someone over tonight. Going home at this hour is not an option.**

Rich nodded slightly, fishing his phone out from his pocket to check the time. 11:32. “I think I’ll crash here if you’re chill with that,” Rich answered.

“Sounds chill.”

oO0Oo

Monday mornings were always bad. You started school for the week, you were tired, and you’d have a shit ton of assignments to turn in. But this Monday morning was particularly bad for a certain Richard Goranski, who was bound to worry himself sick. 

Jeremy Heere would be there soon, and he could only hope the interaction went well.

**Of course it is going to go well, Rich.** his Squip assured. That wasn’t exactly the reason he was worried. **Rich, I assure you a Squip will be the best thing to happen to Jeremy since he got his license.**

Rich wasn’t so sure.

_Zap._

The shock was not all that shocking.

Rich’s stomach dropped when a familiar head of brunette hair approached him. “Where’s my money, Tall-Ass?” Rich demanded, Squip guiding him.

Jeremy floundered and Rich felt a wave of guilt wash over him, one that was cut off by a voice suspiciously akin to that of Keanu Reeves.

**_Up, up, down, down, left, right, A!_ **

Rich froze, his Squip stilling alongside him.

_‘What the fuck is going on?’_

**We have received instruction from a higher authority. From now on, we will accommodate the goals of Jeremy Heere and his Squip, along with our own.**

oO0Oo

The wait for lunch was blissfully painful. Blissful, in a sense, that there was a wait. Painful in a sense that it passed by far too quickly. His usual sharkish grin was entirely faked as he approached Jake outside of the cafeteria.

_‘Are we still going to help him?’_

**With Chloe, yes, but all future attempts to aid him in his endeavors in winning over Christine have been terminated.**

That was what Rich feared.

“Jakey-D, what’s up?” Rich called. Jake perked up, turning towards Rich.

“Yo! Me and Christine went to the mall over the weekend! Had a killer date at Sbarro’s.” he responded, a dreamy gaze resting on his face. Rich 100% didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy. 

**Chill. Hey, I got someone you** **_have_ ** **to meet.**

“Chill. Hey, I got someone you _have_ to meet.” Rich responded. 

_‘Wait, who?’_

**Jeremy Heere.**

Sure enough, the lanky boy rounded the corner, oozing confidence as he swaggered towards Rich. “This is my buddy, Jeremy!”

Screw his Friday thoughts of it being a long week; it was going to be a long _year_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo!
> 
> The angst begins
> 
> Thanks to my lovely friend HatWithLegs  
> ( https://archiveofourown.org/users/HatWithLegs )for betaing!

Rich nervously ran his thumb over his knuckles, rocking back and forth on his heels. He had just shot Chloe a text asking her to meet him behind the gym, and he had no idea how she was going to take the meeting.

**Relax. Stop fidgeting.**

_'Sorry, I just-'_

He didn't even flinch at the shock.

**Chloe is predictable. Her jealousy rules her actions, and we can use that to our advantage.**

Rich bleakly nodded. The sound of gravel crunching beneath shoes pulled Rich from his thoughts. Chloe sighed when she saw him.

"Be quick about this. I want to talk to your other half before he fucks off in his car again."

**Piss off and leave Jake alone, alright?**

**"Piss off and leave Jake alone, alright?"** Rich's tone was miffed, and he didn't even bother looking at Chloe when he gave the line. "He doesn't care for your stupid Piece and shit, he just wants to live life."

Chloe looked like she had just been slapped. "Excuse me, Rich, but when the _fuck_ did either of us say you could get involved in our relationship?!"

**When you started treating him like an object. He's not your boy toy, Chloe, he's an actual human being.**

**"When you started treating him like an object. He's not your boy toy, Chloe, he's an actual human being."** Rich scoffed. He drummed his fingers on his arm. "He's been going through a lot lately. Money's been tight. His family's fighting to keep the house. He doesn't need your bullshit stacked on top of all of that."

This, of course, was a complete lie. Jake's parents may have disappeared, yes, but Jake had been receiving a steady amount of cash. The bills were paid, the checks came in, life was good. 

A flicker of emotion, whether regret, guilt, or fear (Rich couldn't quite tell) flashed on Chloe's face. She narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I'll leave him alone." She paused, thinking something through. "For now."

As Chloe stormed off, Rich let out a sigh of relief. That girl was a nightmare to deal with.

**And you had me to help. Never forget that, Rich. Without me, you are nothing.**

oO0Oo

A week after Jeremy joined the 'squad', he and Brooke had gotten together. That was surprising. Jake and Christine had also gotten together. That wasn't so shocking. What was shocking was how much time Jake was spending with Christine.

Not that Rich was paying attention to what Jake did, of course. No—it—well—he just knew, ok?!

That had gotten him another shock.

Naturally, Rich wanted to make up for that lost time with Jake. So he texted.

And texted.

And texted.

Every single time, Jake flaked out. The excuse was always Christine.

_'Oh, sorry, I'm gonna be with Christine.'_

_'Christine's gonna come over, sorry bro.'_

_'I was actually taking Christine to the mall, sorry.'_

Rich had a right to be mad. Obviously. His Squip said so, and it was always right.

**The amount of time Jake has been spending with Christine is detrimental to the goals of Jeremy and his Squip. It would benefit all of us if we sabotaged their relationship.**

oO0Oo

It was the fourth of October, Friday morning, three weeks after Jake and Christine got together, and five weeks since school started. Rich had just dropped his backpack off at his locker and was well on his way to visit Jake's. 

"Goranski!" Jake called from his locker, waving Rich over. "My man, what's up?" The taller teen clapped Rich on the back, and Rich certainly didn't wish he held his hand there a little longer because Rich _certainly_ didn't miss the constant shoulder hugs from Jake when they hung out. After all, Rich was _certainly_ not gay. No, not at all.

**"So you stopped avoiding me, huh?"** Rich quipped, usual smirk residing on his face. 

_'Uh, Squip? I don't really like where this is going…'_

**Rich, I assure you the outcome will be favorable. Now, pay attention.**

Jake furrowed his brows. "Avoiding you?"

**Yeah. If you don't want to hang out, you can just say it. Don't need to use your girl as an excuse.**

**"Yeah. If you don't want to hang out, you can just say it. Don't need to use your girl as an excuse."** Rich repeated, lightly punching Jake on the arm. Jake stepped back a little.

"Rich, I've actually just been spending that much time with Christine…"

**Darken your face. You are annoyed, borderline hostile, but not quite.**

"You've been ditching me for three whole weeks for some fucking theater chick?" Rich dryly laughed, pointedly following the Squip's orders. Though it would be a hell of a lot easier to just ask Jake to stop blowing him off.

**Jake has become too comfortable with treating you as a secondary option. You are his closest friend, and we must prevent Christine from usurping your role as the person he trusts most.**

"Her name is Christine, you should know this by now. Don’t call my girlfriend a 'fucking theater chick'." Jake muttered.

" _Her name is Christine,_ " Rich mocked. "Yeah, guess what? I don't give a shit. All I give a shit about is **the fact that this bitch has been taking over your life."**

**If we make Christine appear to be a toxic influence on Jake, he will be more likely to break up with her shortly.**

"All you do is hang out with her. You can't get away from her." His eyes widened a tad when the Squip spoke up again.

**She's your new Chloe.**

_'We can't say that! Chloe's been harassing Jake since eighth grade, it will ruin him!'_

**This is the only way to keep this relationship. Is that not what you want, Rich?**

_'Yeah but-'_

Rich had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from shouting when he was violently shocked.

**Then say it.**

**"She's your new Chloe."** Rich hissed, jabbing a finger up at Jake. The latter let out a small gasp before his face went icy.

"Well, so what if she is? I honestly, at this point, don't give a fuck!" Jake snarled. "Pretty fucking ballsy of you to try and give me relationship advice, Mr. ‘Lone Wolf'. You threw your Piece away, and you think that makes you so cool!" Jake let out a brisk sharp laugh before returning his gaze to Rich.

"Really, it just makes you look like an ungrateful dick."

Rich's expression didn't waver, but his mind was a rolling storm.

_'Jake's right, he's right and-'_

Rich's Squip shocked him before he could spiral. Jake was now pacing back and forth, drawing in a crowd.

"Why did you do it, anyway? Did you want to spite your soulmate? Wanted to make those who tried the wrong Pieces angry? Why?!" Jake questioned, throwing his hands up in the air. 

**Punch him.**

And before Rich could even process what was happening, he had already reared back his arm and let loose. 

He connected with Jake's left temple, slamming the taller teen into his open locker. A wave of gasps came from the surrounding crowd as Rich looked down at Jake. He was slumped against the locker, holding his head in his hands.

"Mr. Goranski!" a teacher roared. Rich was too shocked to care which one. 

The crowd of students parted and the teacher barked a couple more words to Rich. He didn't really care what they were. 

He was led off to the office, not even fully registering his surroundings. There was only one thought going through his head: _'I just punched Jake, I just punched Jake, I just punched Jake, I-'_

**Ask to use the restroom. When you do, instead leave the building. Prepare yourself, the extra time at home will not be spent relaxing.**

Rich nodded, probably pissing off whichever teacher was talking to him. At this point, he really didn't care about that.

He couldn't really bring himself to.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rich is loud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ
> 
> Since Im kinda bad at planning I forgot to tell yall what the special link soulmates have is
> 
> its telepathy between the soulmates,
> 
> it gets brought up in the chapter
> 
> just so you don't get confused ^^

Rich's house was empty when he got there. That was pretty usual. His dad worked from eight to five. It was currently ten in the morning.

**Grab the bobby pin on the side table in the living room.**

Rich had been in the house for a minute, shoes still on, and he was already receiving instruction.

He shucked his shoes and headed over to the living room. The bobby pin was there, as stated, and Rich wasted no time swiping it off the side table.

**Head to your father's room.**

Rich's father’s door was always a menacing sight. It was just an oak portico, but what lay behind it was something of a terrifying mystery.

**Go inside.**

Rich felt his face pale.

If his father found out that he went into his room, it would be utter hell. It was a sacred place; if anything was disturbed it would send his father into a flying rage.

**If your father is angered, I can and will get you out of the situation safely.**

With tremulous hands, Rich tightly gripped the door handle. It was cold. Too cold. Unused.

Rich took a deep breath before pushing the door open.

The room was dark and daunting. Piles of clothes and boxes left a single clear trail from the door to the pigsty of a bed. It was an utter mess.

The Squip's eyes were drawn to a single point, and Rich followed the gaze. A small, brown box with a lock on it sat upon a small nightstand. Rich ran a thumb over the Bobby pin in his hand.

**Pick the lock.**

Rich swallowed, throat dry, and approached the nightstand. It was difficult, the path to the nightstand not doing much to help his footing. Eventually, he made it.

His hands started moving on their own when he reached the box. It clicked when it opened. Rich jumped at the sound.

**Quit worrying. It is detrimental to the process.**

The Squip shocked Rich and he hurriedly removed the lock and opened the box.

He felt his heart stop when he saw what was inside.

"I-I can't take this! He'll get so mad it'll be so a-awful Squip I can't take this!!" Rich shouted, rapidly backpedaling away from the box. His Squip froze his legs.

**If you do not follow through with this, the argument you had with Jake will be nullified. We need to make him feel completely in the wrong or this will not work. This is the only way, Rich.**

"P-please I— I don't, I can't do this please I don't want to Squip, please! I-" Rich was cut off by a violent shock. If the Squip wasn't blocking his tear ducts he certainly would have been sobbing.

**This is for your own benefit, Rich. Resistance is futile. Tomorrow, I will simply carry out the task myself. I highly doubted you would be able to do it yourself.**

oO0Oo

It was the weekend. The oh-so-dreaded weekend. Rich was outside of Jake's house, the sound of the Dillingers’ doorbell still in his ears. His pocket felt heavy with guilt, regret, and-

_Zap!_

**Cease the dramatics, Rich. Your poetic woes can take a backseat, Jake will answer the door soon.**

And sure enough, the telltale sound of someone running down the stairs could be heard faintly from outside.

When Jake opened the door, Rich felt his body seize up.

**Relax, I am simply taking control of the situation. There is no room for error.**

The taller teen still had bruises from Friday’s encounter, and Rich had never seen him so pissed.

Rich was past Jake and through the threshold before he even knew it. "Whoa whoa whoa, what the fuck, dude?!" Jake called, whipping around to face Rich. The latter scoffed and rolled his eyes. The sensation was borderline-panicking, feeling himself move without, well, moving.

 **"On Friday, you asked why I threw away my Piece. Frankly, that's shit you shouldn't stick your nose in, but I'm too pissed to try and talk you down from your high horse of privilege. So buckle up, asshole. You asked for an explanation, I'm gonna give you a fucking explanation."** The Squip sneered through Rich, jabbing a finger up at Jake.

"Better be a goddamn sob story." Jake retorted. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door.

Rich let out a low growl. **“I was trying to help you. Christine is a bad influence. She isolates you, keeping you from us. You’re becoming emotionally vulnerable."**

"That doesn't explain the Piece thing," Jake interjected.

The blond gave a sharp glare before continuing. **"Fine. We'll skip me looking out for you."** Jake gave a small huff at that. **"I don't want a soulmate. They hold you down, mess you up. I don't want one, don't need one."**

Jake looked incredulous. "Do you know how many people would kill to get a chance at finding their soulmate?! How many made the mistake of trying Pieces too soon and regret that for the rest of their lives?!”

_‘He’s right, I look like an asshole! An ungrateful, self-entitled dick! We-’_

**End this train of thought right now or I’ll leave you to figure out the situation yourself.**

Rich obeyed. **“God, you’re so ignorant. Soulmates aren’t for everyone, Jake. It’s time you realized that. They’re clingy, needy people who ruin lives.”**

“You’re fucking sixteen, Rich, I don’t think you know a damn thing about ruined lives.”

That hit Rich hard. He _did_ know how a ruined life felt. A broken father, a missing mother, a careless brother. His life had been shitty from the very beginning.

 **“And that’s where you’re wrong again, Jake. God, for someone who hates people assuming things about him you sure do assume a lot about others, don’t you?”** retorted Rich.

“Cut the shit and get to the point already.” the brunette hissed.

“Alright, alright.” he sighed. **“I always told you mom ran away, right? Well, that was a complete and utter fucking lie.”** Rich chuckled. **“Truth is, she died. Jumped off the bridge near my house. And it was all because of him.”** The blond hissed the name out, poison lacing the word.

 **“The bastard was an alcoholic. He hated mom, drove her insane with their ‘special link’ bullshit.”** Rich took a step closer, glaring at Jake as if the boy was responsible for his mother's death. **“She could never get away from him. The stupid telepathy their Pieces gave them only made it harder for her to fucking enjoy life. Could take it anymore. I think you know how that story ends.”**

“That’s impossible.” Jake accused. “Your parents weren’t soulmates. Soulmates are perfect for each other, they don’t drive each other to fucking suicide.”

Rich shook his head, a smirk resting on his face that felt more like a scowl. It was painful. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the object resting inside. It felt alarmingly cold, so cold it almost hurt to hold it. Too heavy to be picked up with ease, but too light to stop him from doing so.

It could have been beautiful, the sun hitting it at just the right angle when presented to Jake. It could have been beautiful, with the golden band keeping the multicolored gems inside together perfectly. It could have been beautiful, red and yellow complementing each other perfectly, had the yellow gem not been a winds’ breath away from shattering completely.

“Oh my god,” whispered Jake, eyes wide with a saddened shock. “T-they _were_ soulmates…”

**“Yeah, so maybe don’t fucking assume I do shit for no reason. I’m not a dumbass.”**

“I won’t,” Jake replied, shaking his head.

“I won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was betaed by HatWithLegs!
> 
> mega thanks to them


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have this as a little treat for the long wait ;D
> 
> Again thanks to HatWithLegs for betaing!
> 
> EDIT: I FORGOT TW FOR THE F-SLUR BE WARNED

It was the Saturday night before and Jake, Rich, Chloe, Brooke and Jeremy were out drinking. Rich had invited them to an old clearing by his house, and, naturally, lured them in with the promise of beer.

An old electric lantern was set up in the middle of the little ring the students made with themselves, and an open cooler was placed next to Chloe. 

Rich’s heart was pounding. It wasn’t because he was sitting right next to Jake and he just laughed and _God_ his laugh sounded so nice. 

No, it was because he was in front of three other people, beer in his hand, being commanded to drink it.

_‘I can’t! I’ll lisp and mess up and everyone will know I’m a fraud!’_

**Relax. Everyone here has been drinking for over an hour. You can blame any mistakes you make on being drunk. Don’t refrain from lisping, act confident and blame it on your intoxicated state.**

So Rich took a deep breath, then a deep sip.

oO0Oo

Jake was straight. He couldn’t be gay, no, not at all. He’d dated girls before. Hell, he’d even fucked girls before! There was no way in _hell_ he was anything but straight. 

So when he thought Rich’s lisp was, well,

_Cute_ ,

He meant it in a totally platonic, 100% straight, ‘No Homo’ way. Besides, it wasn’t gay to call a younger kid cute, right? He had totally called his little neighbor Tyler cute when he first rode a tricycle and was still straight. Yeah, it was ok to call younger kids cute and still be straight.

But Rich was two months older than him.

_Fuck._

No, no it was ok. He was still straight. He just thought it was, uh, _endearing_. Yeah, endearing was the word!

“And then she slipped again!” Rich added to whatever conversation the others were having. Jake’s heart soared at the word ‘slipped’ when Rich’s lisp caught on the S.

_Double fuck_.

Yeah, so maybe he was 99% straight, but at least he still wasn’t gay!

…

Right?

Except for that time where he woke up spooning Rich. Or when he made Rich join the school play just because he wanted him to be there. Or the time in sophomore year when he saw him for the first time and the only thought that came to his mind was _‘Damn, that guy’s hot.’_

_Triple fuck_.

He had a crush on Rich.

Wait, no. He couldn’t have a crush on Rich! Rich would hate him! The blond hated, well, how did he put it? _Homos_. He used to give Jeremy so much shit when he thought he was gay.

Rich would hate him if he was gay.

And if he knew he was gay _and_ had a crush on him…

"Yo, Jake, you done staring off into space?" Rich called. Jake snapped back into reality, flushed as he saw all of his peers staring back at him.

"I, uh, yeah! Wh-what were you saying?" He mumbled, fiddling with his thumbs. Rich snickered as Chloe rolled her eyes. Brooke seemed content with lazily checking her phone.

Jeremy piped up, unusually sober for an outing set up for the explicit purpose of getting drunk. "We were talking about Christine's role for the play. Do you like your role, Jake?"

Jake stared dumbly at Jeremy for a few seconds before he finally processed the words. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, just a bit too enthusiastically. "I-I love it!"

There was a collective sigh at Jake's disinterest. He wasn't even going to bother with trying to keep up with the rest of them.

Which meant getting lost in his thoughts.

His thoughts being the time leading up to the inevitable moment when Rich found out he was a stupid fag who had a stupid faggoty crush on him and he'd leave him and he'd be the new Jeremy, the person who got shoved in the hallway and had a vandalized backpack all because his stupid fucking heart chose the _worst_ person in the _fucking_ world to have him get a crush on!

Jake wanted to cry. He wanted to get up and just leave and go home and just cry until he couldn't anymore. Rich would never love him back. God, what a thought that was.

Jake suddenly knew what Rich meant when he said he didn't want a soulmate. God, why was he so obsessed with Christine in the first place? She was pretty, yeah, but she wasn't Rich.

Jake, in all of his drunkenness, suddenly got a really, really bad idea. 

"Hey guys?" Jake called out, interrupting the current conversation. "I think I'm gonna try my Piece with Christine at my Halloween party." 

He pointedly ignored the look on Rich’s face, instead staring into the light of the electric lantern. 

“R-really?” he heard Jeremy stutter out, almost sounding hurt. That was odd.

“Yeah! There’s _no way_ she wouldn’t do it!” Jake boasted, hoping his confident words would hide the fact that his voice was beginning to crack.

It would be absolutely impossible for this to blow up in his face.

oO0Oo

It blew up in his face.

He spent the entirety of Sunday crying and eating the reservoir of ice cream he had built up for days like this. A small pillow fort had been built in the living room while he huddled up and binge-watched shitty sitcoms. 

It hurt. It hurt so much to think about Rich. God, how did he not notice this huge pathetic crush on his best friend before?

Rich was the _only_ person in school he couldn't get a date with. (He did, in fact, see some of the stares boys gave him in the hallway).

Why did his heart hate him so much?!

A new wave of tears pushed him to choke out a hoarse sob. The slurred voices of actors in the background only intensified the pain.

On TV it worked out so well. Romcoms would have two people run into each other and their Pieces would fly out of their pockets and _bam_ , they found their soulmate. Why couldn't it be that easy?!

If only Rich had never thrown his fucking Piece away. If he wasn't so fucking homophobic. If only he wasn't too good for Jake.

_Quadruple fuck._


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Texting troubles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a writers high you bitches better get ready for some fucking a n g s t because I cannot stop writing
> 
> TW for the f-slur
> 
> Again thank you to HatWithLegs for betaing!

Jake stared at the text on his phone, suspended in disbelief. It couldn’t be real, right? There was absolutely  _ no way _ the text he just read was real. But there it was. On his phone screen. Not moving, not changing, not disappearing. The same as it was the first time he checked, then the second, then the thirteenth.

**Bich [11:34 PM]:**

_ luv u _

Jake didn’t know how to respond. Was this real? Was this some kind of sick joke?

He ached to send a response of  _ right back @ u _ , but fear kept him frozen. What if Rich knew he was a gross gay pervert who was thirsting over his friend? What if this was a trick to humiliate him?

The anxiety pushed him to type out a response. A risk that could ruin his entire life.

**YOU [11:56](Draft):**

_ i love you 2 _

Before Jake could respond, another text came from Rich.

**Bich [11:57]:**

_ Fuck that was 4 my brother lol _

_ Imagine being gay lmao fucking homos amirite? _

If Jake had any more tears to cry he would. The teen quickly deleted his draft and thumbed out a response to not seem suspicious. 

**YOU [11:59]:**

_ haha yeah right?? Fucking gross lmao _

With that, Jake curled up and choked out dry sobs until he fell asleep.

oO0Oo

Rich had been so close.  _ So close _ .

Yesterday, the day of the campfire he was crestfallen at Jake’s announcement. He was going to Piece Christine. He was going to be taken.

He cared about that. Even if he was gay or gross or whatever his Squip said, he loved Jake. Because he was fucking pathetic. He spent the entirety of Sunday moping in his room, waiting until his father passed out to extend his self-pity party to the rest of the house. 

The first thing he did was steal a beer, nursing the alcohol to keep his Squip at bay. It was at around eleven-thirty he got a wonderful, awful idea.

**YOU [11:34 PM]:**

_ luv u _

He waited, heart racing. Five minutes passed by. Then ten. Then twenty. That’s when his Squip started to turn back on. He panicked and reached for the beer he had on the table, only to knock it over. By the time he got up to go race and grab another can, his Squip was already back on and controlling his actions.

**I cannot believe you. You drink to get away from me and mess up everything I’ve ever done for you. Jake would hate you. He’d hate you for being gay. For being a** **_faggot_ ** **. He’d hate you if it weren’t for me saving you from yourself.**

And Rich’s hands were moving for him, creating a coverup for his mistake.

**YOU [11:57]:**

_ Fuck that was 4 my brother lol _

_ Imagine being gay lmao fucking homos amirite? _

Rich’s heart broke at Jake’s response. 

**Jake DillPickle [11:59]:**

_ haha yeah right?? Fucking gross lmao _

_ Fucking gross _ .

Jake thought that he was  _ fucking gross _ .

Maybe not directly, but it still hurt just as much. If Jake knew, he’d hate him.

**As I said before. If it weren’t for my save of the situation, you would have been kissing any positive relationship with him goodbye.**

Rich weakly nodded, getting up to clean the beer he spilled.

**You are nothing without me.**

oO0Oo

Monday morning was buzzing. It was four days until Jake’s Halloween party and everyone was pumped. 

The news of Jake’s party plan of trying his Piece with Christine was widespread, though most thought it to be false. Jake didn’t help anyone in the rumor mill by neither confirming or denying the suspicions. 

Rich was unusually fake today. His mood was soured by the fact that, no, he was  _ not _ going to do anything to stop Jake, because Jeremy’s Squip already had everything planned out. He was happy that Jake wasn’t going to Piece Christine, but, still. He had a little, tiny piece of hope that if  _ he _ stopped Jake, maybe he and Jake could-

**Rich, you know how I feel about those thoughts.**

Right, he had things to focus on. Like looking somewhat interested in the conversation Jeremy and Brooke were having about the upcoming party.

“Well, I'm going to go as a cyborg! Y’know?  _ Beep boop beep boop _ , hehe.” Jeremy chuckled, throwing an arm around Brooke. The girl gave a giggle of her own, throwing heart-eyes at her boyfriend. 

“I don’t really know what I’m going to go as yet, but I know it’s gonna be hot!” Brooke exclaimed.

“What are you going as, Rich?” Jeremy asked as he looked to the aforementioned boy who was currently leaning against his locker. 

“Jason Voorhees. It’s gonna be fucking lit.” Rich responded, giving finger guns to Jeremy. 

"Christine and I are going with a couple's costume." announced a voice from behind Rich. The blond turned around to see Jake strolling down the hall towards the group that had congregated around Rich’s locker. “It’s gonna be awesome.”

Rich gave a faux smile, internally hurting. He always wished he could at least do a group costume, like Mario and Luigi. Instead, he had become that kid who only went as horror movie characters. Last year he was Micheal Myers, and he lied about the year before, saying he went as Pennywise. 

“That’s so cute!” squealed Brooke, giving a little fist pump. “You two are  _ such _ an adorable couple!”

“Awe, thanks. It’s really just Christine’s idea. She’s awesome.” Jake gushed. 

Rich faked a gag, mostly at the fact that Jake wasn’t gushing about  _ him _ .

**_Rich,_ ** his Squip reminded, giving a small shock.

“You’re so romantic, it’s sickening.” Rich mocked on his own. 

“You only say that cause you’re lonely, Rich.” Brooke teased. Rich scoffed, crossing his arms.

“I say it ‘cause it’s true. I chose to be this way, don’t judge me.” he defended, probably just legitimizing Brooke’s accusation. Everyone else rolled their eyes while Rich just stood there.

“Aight, I’m off to class. See ya guys later!” Jeremy called, leaving with Brooke in tow.

“See you later.” Rich called back.

He really didn't want to.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween p1 of 3 :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack this is a short chapter don't worry the next one's gonna come soon
> 
> Thanks again to HatWithLegs for betaing!
> 
> TW for f-slur

Jake was fiddling with his Prince costume, using his bedroom mirror. His Piece was sitting on his bed behind him. For the first time in years, Jake had taken it out of the safe he used for storage. People were already starting to fill the house, music playing through speakers. Rich was one of the first arrivals, and he was currently knocking on Jake’s door.

“Yo, dude, come out already! I wanna see your costume,” he shouted through the door. Jake sighed and complied, opening the door for Rich.

The blond promptly entered the room, his iconic sharkish grin resting on his face. “Still don’t know why you chose to dress up in gay shit like Prince, but you do you I guess.”

“It’s not gay,” Jake mumbled, heart racing. Lately, all of Rich’s comments had been hitting a little to close to home.

“Yeah, right!” Rich chuckled, walking over to Jake’s bed. He paused when he saw what rested on it. “Is that your Piece?” he asked, sounding doubtful.

“Yeah, what about it?” responded Jake. He turned around to face Rich.

“It’s fucking _pink_! You sure you ain’t a fag with that shit?” Rich laughed, pointing at Jake’s Piece. Jake quickly walked over and snatched it, hiding it from view with his hand.

“You know I can’t choose the color of it, dude,” Jake grumbled, slipping the gem into his pocket.

Rich, on the other hand, was still laughing his ass off. “Man, you better hope Christine has some color like blue or red, otherwise that’s gonna be fucking embarrassing to explain!”

Suddenly, Rich cut off his laughing and went strangely quiet. He blinked a few times before shaking his head. “I, uh, sorry. I know you don’t control the color of your Piece. That was a dick move.”

Jake nodded, suspicious of the action. “A-and, it’s a really pretty shade of pink…” Rich mumbled under his breath before leaping up and off the bed. “Anyways, come on! You’re missing out on the party!”

The interaction was strange, to say the least. As far as Jake was concerned, he couldn’t remember a single time when Rich had apologized. He actually felt kinda touched by the action.

Realizing that Christine was probably at the party now, Jake rushed down the stairs to go greet her.

oO0Oo

“Where are we going, Jake?” asked Christine as the aforementioned boy led her to his room. 

“It’s a surprise!” he responded, urging her to walk faster.

The night had started horribly. Firstly, when Christine had said that she wanted to go as prince and princess, she hadn’t actually meant the _person_ Prince, just the thing. Second of all, Jake failed to impress multiple times, Christine growing more and more tired as the night drew on. Now was his last chance.

Jake opened the door, motioning Christine to go inside. She obliged, a look of worry dawning on her face.

“So, we’ve been dating for a while now, yeah?” Jake asked, walking over to sit on his bed. “And I really, _really_ like you.”

That was a lie. He liked Rich, but, Rich was unobtainable. The only person who could compare was Christine, and if she wouldn’t do, no one would.

“I’ve been wanting to ask this of you for a while now, so” Jake started, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out his Piece and Christine gasped when she saw it. “Would you be willing to try Pieces with me?

“J-Jake,” Christine stuttered, already backpedaling towards the door. “I’m honored, truly, b-but I can’t. Please don’t take it personally, but I haven’t really been e-enjoying this relationship too much. I was actually going to break up with you tomorrow and I’m really sorry!” she choked out before leaving Jake alone in the room by himself.

The night couldn’t possibly get worse, right?

oO0Oo

Jake was going to kill Jeremy Heere. The absolute _gall_ Jeremy had to sleep in his _parents’_ bed with Chloe!

He stared angrily out if his bedroom window. Chloe had since left when she got tired of arguing with him and now Jake was left alone, stewing in his anger. 

So of course Rich decided that was a good time to walk in.

"Yo, uh, kinda dicked over, aren't ya? Hehe, dicked. Y'know-"

"Could you just shut the fuck up?!" Jake yelled, turning to face Rich. "I am sick and tired of you and I don't want to see you!"

Rich looked almost, scared? "Jake I was just trying to-"

"I don't give a flying fuck what you were trying to do! I've had an awful night and I don't need you here to make it worse. Out!"

The door slammed as Rich ran out. Jake swore he saw tears in his eyes. Jake groaned as he fell into his bed.

He was just so done.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha please don't hate me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to HatWithLegs for betaing!
> 
> TW for t-slur

Rich needed to be alone. He knew if he truly wanted to leave the party he should have just left the house but it was cold and was tired and sad and being tired and sad never mixed well with walking home in the dark.

**Besides, it would demolish your social standing to be seen leaving the party early.**

Ah, right, it. It was another factor as well. 

**I still cannot believe how poorly you reacted to Jake’s outrage.** it chided.

_ ‘I still cannot believe you thought making me talk to him was a good idea.’ _ Rich shot back.

**It was necessary to assess the situation.**

Rich highly doubted that, but, whatever.

He just needed to be alone.

The hallway that led to all the upstairs rooms was wide open, except for a small closet at the back. Rich knew that it also led to the guestroom that was always locked because, well, he didn’t really know why. Old houses were weird.

He slipped into the closet and through the back door that opened up to the guestroom. He breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of the party drowned themselves out. He was finally alone.

“R-Rich?” someone called out.

Fuck.

Brooke was curled up against the bed, face stained with tears and voice weak from sobs. She had apparently been drinking, most likely to ease whatever sorrows she had, evident by the red solo cup resting on the nightstand.

“Brooke?” Rich called out, though the question was futile. It was clear that it was, in fact, Brooke in the room.

“Brooke, what happened?” Yet another futile question, as Rich already knew what events had taken place at the party.

“J-Jeremy ch-cheated on m-me…” Brooke whimpered. “Because o-of course he’d p-prefer Chloe t-to me. Sh-she’s pretty an-nd hot a-nd a, a r-real g-girl…”

“Whoa whoa, w-wait, what do you mean by ‘a real girl’?” Rich asked, beginning to feel unnerved by his Squip’s sudden silence.

“I-I’m not a g-girl, I’m a-a tranny. A poser. A-a b-boy p-pretend-ding!” she cried. “I-I’m not Brooke, I’m B-Bastion!”

**Perfect.**

_ ‘What?!’ _

**Brooke, or should I say Bastion, as that is his real name, has just outed himself. Revealing this secret to the rest of the school will drastically increase your social standing. Hit him.**

_ ‘I, I’m not hitting her! She- she just wants to be herself!’ _

**Rich, if you do not obey my orders, I will take over myself.**

_ ‘No!’ _

And, as promised by the Squip, Rich was stalking over to Brooke against his own will. Brooke looked up at him, eyes wide with confusion and fear. Rich wanted to call out, tell her it was ok. That she was ok, that nothing was wrong with her and that she was more than allowed to be herself. But he couldn’t, his jaw clamped shut by his Squip.

He was now towering over Brooke, hating the way she looked up at him. He could stop it, stop it and comfort her. He remembered the cup of alcohol on the nightstand. With immense effort, he ripped his arm free of the Squip’s control and took the cup. A small sip and it was gone, sizzling out of existence. Rich set the cup back down and sat down so fast it almost appeared as if he collapsed. 

“Brooke, and yes, I mean Brooke, you are as real of a girl as you can be. You’re pretty and smart and a hell of a lot more authentic than Chloe.”

Brooke sniffed, wiping her face with her hand to fruitlessly clean up the tears. “B-both of my boyfriends h-have left me fo-or other g-girls. I, I’m no-not enough f-for them…”

“That’s bullshit and we both know it,” Rich stated harshly. He cringed when he saw Brooke wince. “Sorry, didn’t mean to come off that strong. It’s just that if any guy can’t find you worth it, they’re blind. I don’t think any girl in the school is more loyal and caring than you.” Rich suddenly got an idea. “You know, I have this sort of, uh,  _ deal _ with Jake. If he gives me a beer, I give him a bit of bootleg therapy. If you’d like to do that, just invite me over. Or, of course, uh, my house is always open too.”

“Won’t people think we’re dating?” asked Brooke.

“Who cares? I’d love to be your fake boyfriend if it makes you feel any better.” Rich paused, thinking over his words. “Not that being your real boyfriend would be bad but-”

“You’re into Jake. I get it.” Brooke finished with a smile.

Rich stared, processing her words. “I, I can’t be into Jake. I’m not gay. I like girls.”

Brooke blinked quizzically, before breaking into a giggly smile. “For how supportive you are of me, I thought you’d already know there’s more to sexuality than gay and straight.”

Rich furrowed his brows. “There is?”

“Yeah. You said you like girls, right? Well, is there anything more you like?”

“Not really?”

“Well, I don’t really have time to explain right now, but I think you might be bisexual. Where you like both girls and boys. At least, for you. It varies from person to person.” Brooke smiled as Rich sat there, confused.

“But, anyway, whatever you are, I’m sure Jake likes you back. You are  _ the real _ Richard Goranski.”

“I’ve always hated my last name,” Rich added, still in a bit of shock. “I’d much rather be Rich Sedafier. After my mom. Goranski is too harsh. Too blunt. Sedafier sounds nice.”

“Well, Rich Goranski, Rich Sedafier, whatever it is you prefer, you should shoot your shot.” Brooke stood up, using her sleeve to clean up her face.

“I’d love to stay and talk more, but I have a party to attend to. Have fun, Rich.” She paused as she reached the closet door. “And thank you. For everything.”

And with that, Rich was alone. He didn’t really want to be anymore. 

With a determined look on his face, Rich stood up.

He had stuff to do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't murder me please  
> HatWithLegs ais the best betaer out there you can fite me on that
> 
> TW for suicide attempt

Jake had majorly fucked up. He yelled at Rich when he was only trying to help him and now he couldn't find him anywhere. Someone had locked themselves in the downstairs bathroom and his bedroom had been trashed by someone who thought it would be a nice place to have a hookup. So now, there he was, standing in front of the mirror in the master bathroom.

It was pristine. Everything the way it was left when his parents fled. Nothing touched. Nothing moved. It was a sort of promise to himself. If his parents ever came back, everything would be the same. Life would work out again. He would be in a normal, happy, nuclear family and he wouldn't have to pretend that he had loving parents. He wouldn't have to pretend that the closest thing he had to a parental figure was his football coach. He wouldn't have to pretend that the reason he kept inviting Rich over was because he enjoyed his presence and wasn't to keep the silence out. He wouldn't have to pretend that he was alright.

His reflection was a mess. Red-rimmed eyes from crying, Bedhead from running his hands through his hair in stress, and hands so calloused they felt like plastic.

He wanted to be done. Done with the pain of being abandoned, the fear of hanging out with Rich, the stress of high school, all of it. Just done.

An overwhelming sense of nothingness was beginning to set in. Blanketing his senses and removing any sort of feeling he had. Reality dimming as his senses faded and became overwhelming at the same time. He needed to feel something,  _ anything _ . He needed to feel alive.

There was an explosion of glass in the bathroom as Jake smashed his fist into the mirror. He looked down at his closed fist, raw and already bleeding. Well, he certainly felt that.

Silent tears fell down his face, his reflection dark and angry where it glared back at him through the few shards of glass left on the wall. He took a few seconds to recompose himself when he realized how ragged his breathing had gotten.

He needed to find Rich. He needed to find him and apologize and just be there with him. It was really the only thing that mattered anymore. 

He wiped his knuckles down with his sleeve, not caring about the residual blood on the purple fabric. The walk from the bathroom to the hallway wasn't that long, but it felt like forever. Each step felt weighed down, feet too heavy to continue on. But he did anyway. 

It was when he reached the bottom of the stairs that his phone pinged with a text.

**Bich [12:54]:**

_ Yo, Jakey D! Remember when I said I would go out in a blaze of glory? Well, I intend to do just that. Literally. Kind of ironic that I'd thought I'd live forever, haha. _

_ … _

_ Maybe just ironic to me I guess. _

_ I've always been a little on the nutty side. No denying that anymore. _

_ Anyways, see you on the other side, bro. Make sure to keep me waiting. I'll be patient. _

Jake's heart stopped. No, no, no no nononononono-

This couldn't be happening.  _ This could not be happening! _

Rich couldn't die, Rich couldn't die! He was too young, too good! Jake had so much he wanted to do with Rich.

God, why couldn't he have just taken Rich up on his offer to be lone wolf buddies? It would have been the closest thing he would have had to a romantic relationship with the boy. The closest thing he had to happiness.

**YOU [12:54]:**

_ Rich where are you _

_ Rich _

_ Rich where the everloving FUCK are you?!?!?! _

_ RICH _

_ RICH WHERE ARE YOU _

‘Blaze of glory’. What the fuck did he mean with ‘blaze of glory’?!

There was a gasoline canister in the garage.

Jake ran faster than he ever had in his life. The garage door never seemed farther. 

He reached the door and immediately attempted to throw it open. It wouldn't budge.

Fuck.

He had barricaded the door.

The smell of smoke was starting to accumulate. A single shout of  _ 'fire!' _ was heard by Jake and the house erupted into chaos.

Jake took a couple of steps back and kicked at the door. It opened, but not enough for him to enter. One more kick and the barricade fell.

Rich was lying in the middle of the garage, a lighter in his hand and a spilled gasoline canister beside him. Flames had engulfed the entire room.

"Rich, oh my god!" Jake yelled, rushing over to Rich's unconscious body. 

He squatted down, picking up as much of Rich as he could hold in his arms. He was a lot heavier than Jake thought. 

"Rich, please, hang on for me!" Jake cried as he hauled Rich to the door. He had just crossed the doorframe when part of the ceiling collapsed onto his legs. Jake screamed and pulled Rich closer to his chest. "I'm sorry, Rich! I'm so fucking s-sorry!" Jake choked out. "I-I love you…"

Suddenly, there was a commotion around Jake. Firefighters had finally arrived and they helped both boys out of the house, hoisting them onto stretchers. The last thing Jake remembered was the sight of his house burning to the ground. 

oO0Oo

Deep in the remains of the Dillinger residence lay the phone of Richard Goranski. Currently, it was battered beyond repair. Split in half and somewhat melted, it seemed insignificant when compared to its surroundings.

It was what it used to be that mattered. 

If you had seen it before it was destroyed, you would have seen the message displayed on its screen.

**YOU [12:55] (Draft):**

_ I love you, Jake. For real. _


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ahahaha hospitals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guESS WHOS BACK MOTHERFUCKERS  
> THATS RIGHT  
> MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE  
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> danke hatwithlegs for betaing

Sore. 

Pained. 

Cramped.

Sorrowed.

Jake stared blankly at the hospital wall.

Sore.

Pained.

Cramped.

Sorrowed.

Those felt like the only words that existed. Running endlessly through his head. 

He couldn't let anything else occupy his mind otherwise it would always lead back to Rich Rich Rich _ RichRich _ —

No, no, just,

Sore.

Pained.

Cramped.

Sorrowed.

That was all he could afford. There was hardly any sort of decorative interior. Plain white wallpaper. Only windows on the walls. The sun outside was far too bright. Bright like flames— 

No, not there. Ok, start over. The hospital bed he was lying on felt expensive, but still poor quality. It worked well enough for resting on, as well as functioning for who knows how many medical procedures, but it was always slightly uncomfortable. The mattress was a tad bit itchy and it was causing his legs to burn. Burn like his house on Halloween when Rich had-

Stop it. Stop it and just keep your thoughts straight. Straight. Straight like Rich-

_ God fucking dammit _ . It hadn’t even been two minutes before he was drooling over his friend again.

If Rich would even still call him his friend.

That hurt to think about. 

Life without Rich. Without the loud calls in the hallway or the claps on the back or the ‘Jakey-D!’s in class. Without the fuzzy feeling Jake got whenever Rich laughed because  _ God _ that was a pretty sound. Without one of the only reasons he had left to live.

Jake groaned and fell back into his pillow, exhausted beyond belief. No one would tell him anything about Rich’s condition or when he would get out of the hospital; shit, they wouldn’t even tell him if Rich was fucking alive! He was just stuck. Stuck here in what felt like hell. 

He wouldn't be surprised if it was. 

oO0Oo

The play. 

Out of one nuisance and into the next. He’d been out of the hospital for less than a week.

Jake didn’t see the point in doing it anymore. Rich was gone, Christine was a lost cause, and he had to hobble across the stage with his crutches. Nevertheless, he’d come this far, and Mr. Reyes was already the understudy for Rich  _ and _ Jeremy. The man wasn’t exactly his favorite, but Jake wasn’t  _ cruel _ . 

Maybe it would be cut short by a power outage or something.

Fate had different ideas. 

As soon as he tried Puck’s stupid serum, he had a splitting headache and a voice suspiciously akin to  Rashon Evans ringing through his head. 

Then it went dark.

oO0Oo

Seeing Jeremy wheeled into Rich’s room wasn’t exactly calming. Certainly not after the blonde had faced what must have been the most painful migraine in history.  _ Especially _ not after his Squip had gone silent. Hours passed before the taller boy woke up.

Needless to say, the conversation they had next was the pinnacle of gaucherie. 

It got a lot better when Michael stepped in to explain what the fuck actually happened. Rich got lost halfway through the explanation, thinking about Jake.

If everyone at the play got Squipped, that meant Jake did too. That meant Jake had a Squip, even if it was only for half an hour or so. Shocks, berating, insults; directed at Jake.  _ Directed at Jake _ .

Arguably, that was the scariest thing about the news Rich received. 

Mr. Heere came in a couple of minutes after, wearing shorts that looked a little like boxers. Conversation held between the father and son wasn’t very riveting, filled with pauses and awkward silence. The mellow atmosphere of the hospital room was completely shattered, however, when Christine came barreling in through the door.

“Jeremy!” she exclaimed. “Jeremy, my Piece was completed!”

A mixed expression of joy and jealousy rested on Jeremy’s face. “That’s awesome, Christine!” he cheered, the chipper tone audibly forced. “Who is it?”

“That’s the greatest part!” Christine squealed. “It’s no one!”

“No one?” Micheal questioned.

“It’s great, isn’t it? I always wondered why romance always bothered me, but now I know why!”

A pregnant pause filled the room. 

“Wait!” Christine blurted, “Oh my gosh Jeremy I’m so sorry I forgot to ask if you’re doing ok!”

If Rich laughed a little too hard at that, it was a welcome distraction, because at least it gave him some time to think of something besides Jake.

oO0Oo

When the energy died down and the rest of the occupants in the room bid Rich a farewell, the overwhelming sense of solitude blanketed the boy once more. Emotionally exhausted but physically hyped was not a good combination for him. 

Why didn’t Jake visit? Christine had.

Chloe, Jenna, and Brooke were also absent from the scene, but that was just them doing girl shit together, right?

_ Right? _

He should have asked if Jake was ok. How fucking moronic of him to waste one of his only ins to Jake’s health because he was horsing around. Dis-fucking-loyalty at its finest.

The thought of Jake not making it kept gnawing at the back of his mind.

But surely  _ someone _ would tell him if Jake dy-, if Jake  _ no longer being with them _ was reality. Surely?

Then again, no one really owed him shit at the moment. He wouldn’t blame them if they decided that the privy to know if Jake was six feet below or not was something he didn’t deserve. He would have done the same.

His melodramatic pity party was cut short when his phone went off. He couldn’t quite reach the device but he  _ could _ read what was on the screen.

**One (1) New Message from Jake DillPickle**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just drew the random football players name out of a hat pls no hate I loath football with a passion


	13. Orphaning

So, long story short: I’m orphaning this work. Im not happy with the story or where its going, and ive also fallen out of the ship too. Continuing to write this would be a chore for me and for you.

Thank you for the support, and have a nice day!

**Author's Note:**

> Sup!
> 
> I hope that the fact that you read this to the end mess you liked it.
> 
> Kudos and comments fuel me, but I'm gonna keep writing this none-the-less
> 
> Peace ✌️


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